Foot control for motor cars



Sept. 27, 1932. H. J. RIES FOOT CONTROL FOR mowoa CARS 2 Sheets-Shet 1 Filed Feb. 26. 195:;

- 1%, Jaw-6 ATTORNEY INVENTOR Y BENIN! Sept. 27, 1932; H. J. RIES FOOT CONTROL F OR' MOTOR CARS Filed .Feb. 26, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WITNESSES 5 11. 3 3

MM v6.2 ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 27, 1932 UNITED,

HENRY J. RIES, OF IOWA CITY, IOWA FOOT CONTROL FOR MOTOR CARS This invention relates to improvements in foot controls for motor cars, especially of the foot control disclosed in the Patent 1,747,083 of Henry J. Ries, granted February 11, 1936,

5 and it consists of the constructions, combinations and arrangements herein described and claimed.

An object of the invention is to provide a control by which settings of the throttle valve can be made by a foot of the operator, one of the particular improvementsbemg two modes of adjusting the dogs carried by a revoluble foot bar, which modes of adjustment either require a positive foot pressure to adjust the bar or merely a light s1de pressure to move it to its settings. p,

Another object of the invention resides in the manner of mounting the foot bar, the mounting providing both for turning about a pivot stud as when adjusting the foot bar over the rack for speed settings, and a lever motion in respect to the base as when the requirement is to raise the foot bar relatively high in respect to the rack in making said speed settings, the mounting of the bar on the stud being loose so as not to interfere with the lever motion.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, reference be- 0 ing had to the accompanying drawings 1n which 7 Figure 1 is a plan view of the lmproved foot control. I

Figure 2 is an elevation of the controlas r viewed in the direction of the arrow in Figure 1, a portion of the floor boards belng shown in section.

Figure 3 is a cross section taken'on the line 33 of Figure 1.

, Figure 4 is a detail cross section taken on the line 4.-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a detail view illustrating the lever motion of the foot bar in respect to the base. 7

Figure 6 is a detail cross section taken on the line 66 of Figure 5 illustrating a cam on which a heel of the foot bar rides.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the arouate rack.

. Figure 8 is a perspective view of the .foot bar.

Figure 9 is a detail front elevation of the arcuate rack, particularly illustrating the relationship thereto of the dogs, parts of'the foot bar beingshown in section.

The fundamental purpose of the foot control is to enable the making of desired throttle valve settings so that a given speed may be maintained approximately without the necessity of the operator keeping'his foot on the customary accelerator treadle. The herein disclosed foot control embodies sev cral improvements which make it adaptable to better advantage to the purpose named.

In the drawings a base 1 is intended to be permanently fixed to the floor boards of a motor car at an appropriate distance from an accelerator treadle 2 (Figs. 2 and 3).

This treadle is in practice connected with any known linkage (not shown) that terminates in a throttle or butterfly valve of a carbureter. A spring 3 located anywhere in the linkage for example beneath the treadle head, tends to keep the latter raised 7 and to exert pressure on one end of aIrocker 4. A cam 5 on a turnable foot bar generally designated 6 has a biased edge 7 that always bears against an adjoining edge of the rocker, one of the purposes of the spring 8 being to keep these edges in contact so that there will be no relative lost motion. j

The rocker 4 is pivoted on a pin 8 between lugs 9 formed on a filler bracket 10, the base 11 of which is fitted between pieces 12 and 13 (Fig. 6) which define parts of a cam. An end of the base 1 also appears between these pieces (Figs. 5 and 6) but the thickness is machined down at 14 to produce a characteristic cam.

It is upon the cam surface 14 that the heel 15 of the revoluble foot bar 6 rides, the nether surface 16 of this heel being somewhat rounded so that a vertical rocking motion of the foot bar is more readily accomplished when desiring to vertically shift the foot bar in reference to a pivot stud 17 upon which the bar is turnable. This vertical shifting will occur whenthe foot bar is raised'to produce various adjustments in respect to an arcuate rack 18 which is concentric to the stud 17.

Under these circumstances the place of contact of the rounded nether surface 16 with the cam surface 14 will constitute the fulcrum on which the turnable foot bar shifts with a lever motion in respect to the base 1. The pivotal mounting of the foot bar upon the stud 17 is sufficiently loose to permit this lever motion, to which end the members 19 of which the foot bar is chiefly composed (Fig. 8) are separated at the point 20 to provide a slot or passageway forming an over sized opening which the fixed stud 17 occupies, said opening enabling lateral as well as pivotal motion of the collective member 19. The passageway is only long enough in the horizontal direction to accommodate the lever motions of the foot bar.

An extension 21 carried by the foot bar 6 terminates in the foot piece 22 against which the toe of the foot will either be thrust to produce a definite liftof the foot bar'or merely push it sidewise to adjust the foot bar over the rack 18.

For these purposes the foot bar is equipped with a pair of dogs 23, 24 (Fig. 8). These appear on opposite sides of the members 19, a screw stud 25 (Fig. 4) being the common pivotal mounting therefor. This stud has a screw driver head 26 at one side of the foot bar 6 and a nut 27 at the other. It also screws into an intermediate nut 28 that is situated between the members 19. The dogs 23, 24 are located adjacent to the insides of the nut 27 and head 26 (Fig. 4).

The dogs 23, 24 are subject to two adjustments to suit desirably different operating conditions. One of these adjustmentscomprises a lower setting of the dog 23 (Fig. 9) in relationship to the dog 24. The dogs will be set in these positions by means of the screw stud 25 and the two nuts (Fig. 4) so that'the setting in Figure 9 will remain permanent until changed.

The tendency of this setting of the dogs is to cant the foot bar 6 slightly to the right (Fig. 9), the passageway 20 being ample enough to permit this also. This canting enables a surer and more prompt engagement of the dogs with the arcuate rack 18 upon the release of the pressure of the toe of the foot upon the foot piece 22 of the foot bar 6. YVere it not for this disposition of the dogs it might be possible that the foot bar 6 would slip over farther toward the left upon being released, thusfalling short of the desired speed setting. However, by setting one dog lower than the other and thus canting the foot bar a very prompt engagement with the rack is effected. p

The rigidsetting of the dogs 23, 24 requires-a rather forcible thrust of the toe against the foot piece 22 in order to raise the foot bar andpermit. itslateral swing ing to arrive at the desired speed adjustment. A second adjustment of the dogs is arrived at by loosening the nut 27 (Figs. 4 and 8) and swinging the dog 23 up into the dotted line position where it is limited by one of a pair of guards 29, 30. The guard 30 is for the dog 24. The nut 27 will be tightened and the dog 23 held rigid in the raised and inoperative position.

The dog 24 is then loosened by holding thenut 27 with a pair of pincers and turning the screw 25 to the left with a. screw driver. Thedog 24 will now work up and down freely with av ratchet motion over the rack 18 as the foot bar 6 is pushed lightly to one side or the other. This will be a common ratchet action and it will be unnecessary to push the toeo-f the foot tightly into the foot piece 22 as in the former instance. I

Ears 31 upstanding from the ends of the arcuate rack 18 are notched at 32 to receive tongues 33 on the ends of a scale plate 34. The extension 21 plays over the scale plate and acts as a sight in reference to which the calibrations 35 (Fig. 1) canbe read.

The operation is readily understood. A rigid adjustment of the dogs 23, 24 in the down position (Fig. 8) will produce the canted setting ofthe revolubl-e foot bar 6 shown in Figure 9. With this position of the dogs it is necessary for the operator to force the toe of his foot against the foot piece 22 so as to forcibly raise the foot bar 6 high enough to disengage both dogs from the rack 18.

This raising motion as well as the canting of the foot bar is made possible by the oversize passageway 20 (Figs. 1 and 8) that is occupied by the pivot stud 17. After the foot bar is raised it will be swung either to the right or left and then dropped when the desired calibration 35 (Fig. 1) is sighted V against the extension 21.

The canted arrangement of the dogs 23, 24 (Fig. 9) vwould facilitate a push of the foot bar 6 to the right for a speed increase even though the foot piece 22 were not pushed upon, but the primary purpose of the canted arrangement is to make sure a quick engagement of the rack 18 when the foot piece 22 is released.

Another adjustment is to set the dog 23 up high on the foot bar 6 shown in dotted ter on its pivot pin 8 (Fig. 2) and so dei press the treadle 2 to a greater or lesser extent and hence arrive at the desired engine speed.

While the construction and arrangement of the improved foot control for motor cars is that of a gcnerally'preferred form, obviously modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

I claim 1. A foot control comprising a rocker engageable with an element to be moved, a member having means engaging the rocker to rock it and so move said element, pivot means on which said member is loosely pivoted both for turning and canting to one side, a rack in respect to which said member is turnable, and a pair of dogs carried by the member in ofiset relationship, engaging the rack to cant the member in respect to the pivot means and require a lifting force to disengage the dogs from the rack for an adjust-- ment of the member.

2. A foot control comprising a pivoted rocker engageable with an element to be moved, a member having means engaging the rocker to rock it and so move said element, pivot means on which said member is mounted for changing motions in respect thereto in three directions, a rack in respect to which said member is turnable in one direction, a pair of offset dogs carried by the member canting said member in a second direction and requiring a motion of the member in a third direction to accomplish a disengagement of the dogs from the rack.

8. A rack, a stud to which the rack is concentric, a base on which the stud is fixed, a member having a pair of dogs to engage the rack, means respectively on the base and the member providing a fulcrum on which the member can be lifted when setting the dogs against various rack teeth, and means in the formation of the member providing a passageway receiving the stud both for turning and lifting motions of said member.

4. A foot control comprising a pivoted rocker, a stud, a member having a loose connection with the stud for turning and raising motions, means on said member to engage the rocker and rock it, a rack in respect to which said member is turnable, apair of ofiset dogs canting said member while engaging the rack, and means carried by said member against which either foot pressure is applicable to forcibly raise the member from the rack when the dogs are rigid, or against which mere lateral foot pressure will swing the member and cause the loose dog to ratchet over the rack. V

6. A rack, a. stud to which the rack is concentric, a foot bar movable in respect to the rack comprising a pair of members formed to provide a passageway for receiving the stud, dogs on the outsides of said members engaging the rack, means transfixing the members to either support both dogs rigidly or one of them loosely, and guards fitted between the members and bent over the dogs to limit adjustments thereof in one direction.

7. A rack, a stud in fixed relatZon:E-.'=- the rack, a member turnably mounted on the stud and having a dog in engagement with the rack, and a cam adjacent tothe studbeing engaged by the member and providing a fulcrum therefor, said member having an oversized opening receiving the stud and enabling lever movement of said member on said cam relatively to the stud when the dog traverses the rack.

8. A foot control comprising a pivoted rocker engageable with an element to be moved, a member having an oversized opening and having means engaging the rocker to rock it, a stud within the opening enabling lateral as well as turning motion of said member, a rack along which the member is adjustable during its turning, a base having a cam surface, and a heel which is part of the member having a rounded surface to act on the cam surface and cause a lever action of said member when the member is lifted from the rack.

9. In a foot control having a turnable memher and a rack for said member, a pair of dogs carried by the member to engage the rack, means on which the dogs are mounted, said means being fitted on the member, and means coacting with said means for making rigid or loose adjustments of the dogs with respect to said member.

HENRY J. RIES. 

